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New Status:32 Soyuz (S) Undock & Landing: Following a delay in undocking yesterday due to adverse weather conditions, 32 Soyuz undocked from ISS tonight at 6:43pm CDT bringing Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin back to earth. The Soyuz performed a nominal automated de-orbit burn and following a nominal separation of modules, descended successfully under parachutes. The Soyuz vehicle landed in the nominal region at approximately 10:06 pm CDT.

Amine Swingbed Reinstallation: Commander (CDR) Hadfield and Flight Engineer (FE)-Ford reviewed the procedure for reassembling the Amine Swingbed back to its operating configuration. Ford worked with the Amine Swingbed during his time on orbit. Hadfield will continue working on Amine Swingbed following Ford’s departure on 32S. Ford shared tips and tricks for working on the hardware with Hadfield during the session.

Countermeasures System (CMS) Periodic Fitness Evaluation (PFE): Marshburn performed his monthly physiological evaluation, with assistance from Hadfield. The purpose of this activity is to monitor crewmembers’ overall fitness levels to ensure that cardiovascular and musculoskeletal health and performance is satisfactory. The activity consists of performing a graded exercise test on the Cycle Ergometer with Vibration Isolation and Stabilization (CEVIS).

Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixture (CSLM): Hadfield initiated vacuum venting of the CSLM-2 Sample Chamber in preparation for sample #4 of 6 planned samples. CSLM-3 is a materials science investigation that studies the growth and solidification processes (i.e., coarsening) in lead-tin solid-liquid mixtures that contain a small amount of tin branch-like (dendrite) structures, some of which possess many arms. During sample heating, the growth at the tip of each dendrite continues over time, whereas side branches, behind the tip, develop during constant temperature conditions. By understanding how temperature and time control the growth of such dendrites, researchers hope to develop more efficient and economical means of producing higher quality products derived from the casting of molten metals.

Three-Axis Telescope (TRITEL) Checkout: Hadfield transferred TRITEL experiment data to a Station Support Computer (SSC) for downlink to the Ground. The TRITEL investigation characterizes the radiation environment within the Columbus module of the International Space Station (ISS) with high accuracy. Continued characterization and understanding of the space radiation environment allows researchers to better protect humans during space flight and provides data for improving shielding properties of future spacecraft designs.

Previous Status (3/14/13)32 Soyuz (S) Undock Preparation: The Soyuz Landing Commission postponed the 32S landing by one day due to weather conditions at the landing site near Arkalyk, Kazakhstan. Specialists are continuing to monitor the weather conditions at the landing site, and ground teams are re-working the landing plan for tomorrow.

Spinal Ultrasound: Marshburn completed his second of three planned Spinal Ultrasoundscans with Ford as the operator and with remote guidance from the ground team. The Crew Medical Restraint System (CMRS) was used for subject positioning. Spinal Ultrasound aims to use ground and space-based studies to characterize spinal changes during and after spaceflight. Ground based pre- and post-flight Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and high fidelity ultrasound, combined with in-flight ultrasound will be used to characterize and assign a mission health risk to microgravity-associated spinal alterations for back pain and potential injury. This research will determine the accuracy of MRI and musculoskeletal ultrasound in characterizing the anatomy of the vertebral unit and develop novel imaging and training methodologies.

Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixture (CSLM): Hadfield is scheduled to terminate processing of sample run #3 and will install the 4th sample to prepare for vacuum protocols planned for tomorrow morning. CSLM-3 is a materials science investigation that studies the growth and solidification processes (i.e., coarsening) in lead-tin solid-liquid mixtures that contain a small amount of tin branch-like (dendrite) structures, some of which possess many arms. During sample heating, the growth at the tip of each dendrite continues over time, whereas side branches, behind the tip, develop during constant temperature conditions. By understanding how temperature and time control the growth of such dendrites, researchers hope to develop more efficient and economical means of producing higher quality products derived from the casting of molten metals.

Capillary Flow Experiment (CFE): Marshburn completed the third of three CFE-2 Interior Corner Flow (ICF)-9 test vessel sessions. Following these sessions he tore down and stowed the hardware and video tapes. The findings of these sessions will lead to the definition of future ICF-9 objectives. CFE is the study of passive capillary driven redistribution of liquid in a container in microgravity resulting from specific fluid properties, 3-D geometry of the container, and spontaneous phase separation characteristics when bubbles are introduced into the liquid. CFE is a suite of fluid physics experiments that investigate capillary flows and flows of fluids in containers with complex geometries. Results will improve current computer models that are used by designers of low gravity fluid systems and may improve fluid transfer systems on future spacecraft.

Cell Bio Tech Demo (CBTD): Marshburn removed a ziplock bag containing 3 sample bags and photographed the contents following the incubation period. Samples were stored in the Minus Eighty Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI). The focus of Cell Bio Tech Demo is to demonstrate the performance of candidate fluid flow path components and sample handling devices in the space flight environment for design and development of the new ISS life science incubator, Bioculture System.

Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites (SPHERES): Hadfield downloaded data from both the Smartphones used during the SPHERES Smartphone IVA Survey completed on December 13, 2012.